rape and yoga.....
I just wanted to ask two quick questions: this first one is really hard.... if you were a christian, or your daughter/wife whatever was... and you/she got raped... would you take the morning after pill or have an abortion? Or would you have the baby and give it up for adoption? or would you keep it?
My mum had a friend staying over for monday and tuesday nights, and her daughter was raped. And she took her to have the morning after pill... and it really made me think, cos i've always been strongly against anything to do with killing the cell, but maybe if it actually happened you'd act differently??
And the other thing was... this guy "accosted" me today, and asked me if i was a good student? (what does that mean?) (he said i looked like a good student anyway)and had i heard of yoga? and stress? (a student? heard of stress??!!!) and he was saying that like boyfriends (had i had boyfriends?) (i lied and said yeah, many) cloud up your mind, but when you go to study your mind is clear and you focus (really? when has that ever happened to me?) and he was saying that meditation and yoga clears your mind so you can focus. And yoga is actually about more than just the exercises (did i know that?) and involves spiritual stuff (yes, id heard about that, i said) and he gave me this book... if i wanted it.... (for a small donation) (i said "i have $2 in my pocket, thats all i've got") and he said for $2 i can give you this other book... and pulls out this tiny thing, about a 5th of the size of the other , lol! and he thought he had this great victory, and i thought I had the great victory, cos now i can tell people that its true - yoga IS about calling on the spiritual realm ===== BAD.
But as i was walking away... i felt sad... cos i was gonna lay it to him about God... and how i dont focus on nothing to help me study, how i focus on Gods love through his son Jesus' death, and Gods unconditional love for little old me....
but i didnt say it.... and it felt strange to turn around and go back to say something. so i didnt.
should i have?
7 Comments:
What's the difference between an unwanted pregnancy with someone you are married to (or perhaps just going out with) and an unwanted pregnancy with someone who raped you?
In both cases the kid is not wanted, so if you could argue its ok to abort a child of a rapist, abortion could be right in any case.
Admittedly it would be a whole lot harder to cope with having a rapists kid, so I don't know if I can stand here and judge, as this is not something that I will have to decide.
The problem is, one person says its spiritual, another says it isn't, who do you believe? The guy who you just talked to spiritualizes everything someone muight say, and hence yoga doesn't have to be spiritual.
Anyhow, I wouldn't worry about not sharing with him - If he's the guy who has accosted just about half the people at canterbury, chances are he will have had someone tell him about Christ. Concern yourself with the future, and with people with whom God has placed you in a good position to influence.
lol, thankyou Nathan... you are a good influence on me =)
well yoga involves meditation to be successful. The emptying of your mind. The quest to connect with the supreme... And you cannot do yoga if you eat a lot, if you smoke, if you eat meat, if you have an eating disorder. etc
Most westerners choose to ignore this side of yoga. However any buddhist expert will tell you that yoga can only be successful with all the right attributes.
So perhaps you could develop your own set of exercises that will promote flexibility and peace without calling on ancient spiritual rituals??
i was thinking, Nathan.... i've always been 100% against abortion in any form... but when mum said that her friend took her daughter straight to get the morning after pill i thought "eugh... they are a christian family? wow!" but then i was trying to justify it, but i think you're right. I dont think theres any difference to the act... an unwanted baby is still an unwanted baby... and its still taking God's right to control life and death into your own hands.
But i think you're right again (how many times a day do i say that?!!) and i could say it all i want, but i dont know how id feel if it actually happened...
I think that a child conceived as a result of a rape is no less a person that a child conceived in a loving husband-and-wife relationship. It therefore has every right to continue its life through to birth and beyond.
Of course this is difficult for the mother and her family, but who said life was supposed to be easy? Our faith is strengthened by such trials as these.
I think that abortion can only be justified when there aer such complications that the life of the mother is unquestionably endangered. The real-life occasion of this must be very rare (I'm not a doctor - so I'm not sure).
I've always been rather sceptical of yoga, even when practiced purely for physical benefit. Yoga was developed and designed specifically to facilitate interaction with the spiritual realm.
I've discussed yoga (and other stuff) with the many Hare Krishna's that frequent Queen St, and I find it very hard to believe you can detach the physical yoga from the spiritual.
those Hare Krishnas on Queen street are annoying sometimes eh! (I work in the Daily Planet on Elizabeth street so i pass them alot).
this one time the guy came up to me and wanted to give me this booklet, and i said 'no thanks mate, Im a Christian.' then he said 'well, as a good Christian could you make a donation?'
I mumbled something about also being a poor uni student (which is true! and the fact that i didnt have any change on me at the time!)
Only after i had walked away a verse came to mind: "Why do you call me good? there is no one who is good except the Father." then i mentally kicked myself all the way back to work :P
about meditation, its goal is to focus your mind and clear it. but there is such a thing as Christian meditation. This is basically the same thing, except you focus your mind on a bible verse, or on God or Jesus or something like that and you meditate that way (Im not sure exactly, ive never done it! :D) but yeh! just my 50cents! :)
i have this awesome book by Sheila Pritchard, from Scripture Union NZ, its about getting back into meditation and deepening your prayer life. Its so so good... when i actually get into it, and make time for God, its so awesome i never want to stop!
Its got all these different strategies, like drawing pictures, and taking walks, and putting yourself into a bible story, and just being with God, without speaking...
i really really recommend it...! Meditation is Christian! Instead of emptying your mind and focussing on nothing, you focus on how amazing God is!
Post a Comment
<< Home